


Fancy

by loveandallthat



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-26
Updated: 2015-02-26
Packaged: 2018-03-15 08:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3440798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandallthat/pseuds/loveandallthat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate ending / fix-it fic. Reid doesn't manage to save Chris, and a few people are understandably upset about that. He and Luke have broken up. So why is he sticking around in a town where he has no friends, no job, no home, and no boyfriend? He's not sure, but somehow, against all odds, he has help figuring it out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fancy

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to [Bhumi](http://babblingbhumzi.tumblr.com/) and [Keri](http://inthedreamatorium.tumblr.com/), because without the latter this fic would not exist, and without the former it would not be posted. Thank you for all the support.
> 
> I do not give permission for this work to be shared outside of archiveofourown.org

SO this is canon until the part where Luke tells Noah he’s in love with Reid.  More accurately, he does tell him, but he and Reid then break up like immediately afterwards.  It’s very sad.  However, not as sad as what actually happened, so I’m willing to compromise.

 

\---

 

Reid remembers it like it was yesterday, and that should be the worst part.  He wishes it were.

 

It was the weirdest thing, and it should never have happened.

 

Chris had kissed him.  And then he had died.

 

It’s weird that he’s thinking about it now, as he moves out of Katie’s apartment even though Chris is no longer moving in.  Obviously.  Reid shakes his head to clear it.  Obviously only the weirdest of situations had led to any of this.  Only Chris Hughes could fuck up Reid’s brain this much with just a kiss and a death.  (There was one person who only needed a kiss but Reid is decidedly not thinking about him.)

 

Kicking out the man who knew about your boyfriend’s disease and kept a secret from him is pretty fair, all things considered, and Reid finds himself unfortunately unable to blame Katie for his current homelessness.  It’s just that he doesn’t exactly have a lot of friends offering him couches to stay at until he can find a place to move into, so he loads his meager possessions into his care and heads to the Lakeview.  The steep prices may just be the death of him.

 

Or, not.  Maybe it will be the fact that Lily Walsh appears to be behind the counter.  Embarrassingly, he almost considers leaving and driving to another town just to avoid a conversation, but he’s bumped by a maintenance man as he stands for an awkwardly long moment making his decision, and it sparks him into action.  He feels himself walking forward as the man apologizes.

 

“Doctor Oliver,” Lily says slowly as he walks up to the desk.

 

“Ms.  Walsh,” he replies, as formally as his mouth will allow.

 

It occurs to him, instantly, in that moment, to wonder how much Lily knows about him and Luke.  She knows they had a thing for a while, but does she have any concept of why it ended?  Or that it did at all?  He decides to proceed with caution, which he was going to do anyway.  He waits for her to speak.

 

“Do you need a room?” she asks hesitantly, when he fails to speak.  It occurs to Reid that it’s not the most normal thing in the world to approach someone and then not express your reason for it.

 

“Right,” he says, “Yes.  I need a room.”

 

“For how many nights?” Lily prompts.

 

Reid thinks about this.  It’s probably not meant to be a difficult question.  “Two?” he asks, as if Lily can tell him how long he’s going to be unable to find a better place to stay.  “Three,” he amends.  “Definitely three.” He’d almost forgotten he has no friends.  That would have been embarrassing.

 

“Sure, one moment,” Lily says, tapping the screen of her computer.  “That’ll be $150.”

 

“That – sounds kind of cheap,” Reid says unthinkingly.

 

“I gave you the friends and family discount,” Lily explains.  Reid starts to protest, but she continues, “I know you’re no longer seeing my son, but just accept it.  You did restore Noah’s eyesight, after all.”

 

That’s fair enough, Reid supposes.  He hands over his card.  She swipes it, and hands over a key card that she’s already prepared and placed into an envelope labeled with the room number.

 

“Thanks,” Reid says belatedly, after he’s already started to walk away, and Lily just nods before going back to her work.

 

He gets up to his floor via elevator while trying not to have flashbacks, both for general panic reasons and also elevator riding partner reasons, only to realize that the room number corresponds to one of the nicer suites.  He tries the card, already knowing it’ll open, and walks into the room when it does.  Lily freaking Walsh.  Charging him less than the standard price for a regular room and giving him one of the nicest rooms available.  It only serves to further concern Reid with what exactly Luke did or didn’t tell Lily.

 

In what could be a fit of denial, he just decides to chalk it up to thankfulness that he helped out Noah Mayer, and he flips open the room service menu.

 

The next day he learns that the real cost of his hotel room is his privacy.  More accurately, his ability to keep anything from reaching a one Luke Snyder’s ears.  It is, of course, likely that Luke would have heard of Reid’s decision to stay in a hotel room through other means eventually, but a day or two of a head start might have been possible.

 

The method by which he obtains this information, of course, has to be the worst possible one.  It has to be when the aforementioned Luke Snyder, Luciano Grimaldi, reveals himself to be the source of the incessant knocking on Reid’s door at 10 AM that Friday.

 

Unfortunately, instead of Reid realizing this by looking out the peephole, he learns it when he throws the door open with a tired, “what,” before he stops and notices.

 

“Hello, Mr.  Snyder,” Reid says, even more exhausted than before.

 

“Um, hi.  Are we really going to play that game?  With the going back to formalities?” Luke asks awkwardly.

 

“What do you want, Luke?”

 

Somewhat strangely, this appears to relax Luke, at least a little.  “May I come in?”

 

“Of course,” Reid answers, “We have such a great record in hotel rooms.” Damn.  He didn’t really want to take the conversation there.  But Luke just makes a face, and then passes over the thought completely.

 

“I heard you were staying here,” is what Luke says instead.

 

“You ‘heard,’” Reid says, “As if anything happened other than your mother told you.”

 

“Actually, the night manager told me.  My mom knew?” Luke asks, seeming honestly perplexed.  Reid starts considering his opinions on Lily for a hot second, and then, “OK, yes.  My mom told me.” Luke admits.

 

Reid scoffs, amused despite himself.  Par for the course when dealing with Luke.

 

“I am, indeed, staying here.  Now that you have verified your gossip, don’t you have somewhere rich and fancy to be?”

 

“I always have somewhere rich and fancy to be,” Luke answers, and it’s probably the truth.  “I just wanted to know how you were doing.”

 

“Why do you think that you’re the right person to see how I’m doing?  We broke up,” Reid points out.

 

“Yes, you broke up with me, and I still ditched a meeting at a company that I _own_ to check up on you, so please don’t remind me how pathetic I am.  I am very aware.”

 

“Then why are you here?” Reid asks tiredly.

 

“Why are _you_ here?  It seems a little strange for someone with a place to live to check in at a nearby hotel.”

 

“It does.  Luckily, that is not the situation, and therefore nothing strange is going on here.”  Reid tries to use his body language to suggest that Luke leave, namely by pointing his entire being at the door, but it appears that Luke as caught on and is flat out ignoring him.  Great.

 

“But you did check into the hotel,” Luke thinks aloud.

 

“Yes.”

 

“So you don’t have a place to live?”

 

“Correct,” Reid admits begrudgingly.

 

“What happened?” Luke asks, sympathy immediately washing over his face, which is exactly what Reid wanted to avoid.  He sits down on Reid’s partially-made bed, as if that’s not weird.

 

It’s weird.  Reid sits down next to him, and it feels like defeat.

 

“Katie kicked me out after blaming me for Chris,” he says bluntly.

  
“Are you OK?”

 

“Well I’m not _dead_.”

 

Luke flinches slightly.

 

“Sorry.  I’m fine,” Reid amends.

 

“No, I’m sorry.  A lot is going on and I shouldn’t pester you about it.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.  It’s not like I have anyone else to talk about it with,” Reid points out.

 

“You know I’m still around if you need me, even though things are weird between us,” Luke says, turning himself more toward Reid.

 

“I think I’ve seen that part of your personality, albeit with other parties.”

 

“There’s no reason to talk about Noah right now,” Luke says firmly.

 

Reid does not want to talk about Noah either, but he’s having some serious self-destructive tendencies at the moment, and he feels a strange temptation to force the issue.

 

“There’s no reason to talk about your boyfriend when you’re alone in a hotel with your ex-something?” Reid asks harshly, unable to stop himself.

 

“There’s no reason to talk about my ex-boyfriend when I’m in a hotel room with someone I care about,” Luke corrects kindly, which is probably the most painful thing he could have done.  Somehow Reid has managed to get himself hurt in a way he wasn’t even trying for.  He looks at Luke despite the feeling, and sees nothing but painful sincerity, and he feels something in his shoulders relax slightly.  He smiles in spite of himself.

 

“If you want,” Luke says hesitantly, “I own a few apartment buildings in town.”

 

“I’m not a charity case; I’m an out of work homeless neurosurgeon who could get a job and a place anywhere he wants,” Reid snaps.  “I’m not poor and I don’t need your pity.”

 

“So pay rent like a normal tenant,” Luke says, like it’s simple.  Can it be that simple?

 

“Why?” Reid asks.  It’s one word, but it’s the most honest he’s been all night.  “Why would I stay here?  I have no job and no friends keeping me here.”

 

“I’m biased,” Luke says, “Because I still want you here.  But maybe you don’t want to leave things the way that they are.  With Katie, with your job, with Bob Hughes.”

 

Reid sighs, resting his head in his hands.  “Maybe,” he acquiesces.  It feels true, at least.  Mostly he’s just stuck on the fact that Luke still wants him here.  If he thinks too hard about it, he realizes that it really was Reid who ended the relationship, not Luke.  He panicked when he saw them together at Java, and he called it quits, and this is what he’s left with.  Luke literally close enough to touch, but feeling miles away.

 

“So, stay.  Like you said, it’s not like you’re hurting for money or job opportunities.  Stay and make sure that you don’t have any unfinished business, and if everything feels settled and there’s nothing keeping you here, then leave.  I hope that’s not what happens, but I will help you in whatever I can no matter what.  OK?  I will help you stay here, and settle everything, and if it’s what you need then I will help you leave.  But I don’t want you to leave like this.” His voice breaks a little at the end, along with a part of Reid.

 

“Yes,” he agrees.  “Thank you.  I – thank you.”

 

“Of course,” Luke says, like it’s easy.  It probably is easy for Luke, to keep helping people who have hurt him.

 

He stands up, like he knows Reid is getting to the point of not being able to stand his presence anymore.  He walks to the door and Reid follows without thinking about it.  Luke pulls him into a hug for about five seconds, which is simultaneously five seconds too long and hours too short, and he pulls back.

 

“I’ll text you your new address.  You can see the open units and decide which one you like,” Luke says as he leaves.  “I’ll let the manager know.”

 

‘Thank you’ seems insufficient, so Reid just says, “Bye.”

 

\---

 

The apartment is perfect, _of course,_ and way underpriced.  Reid tries to get the manager to disclose the original price, but the high-powered woman Luke apparently hired insists that it’s the normal price.

 

“So if I knock on my neighbor’s door and tell them how much I’m paying, it won’t offend them?” Reid asks suspiciously.

 

“Of course,” she answers smoothly, like she’s looked right through Reid and decided that he would never actually do that.

 

“For a furnished unit?”

 

She takes the signed lease from his hands and replaces it with the keys.  “Enjoy,” she says in parting.

 

He fights a smile as he sits down on his new bed.  He’d probably mistrust it, but he has so much faith in Luke and his knowledge of Reid’s habits, that he imagines that the place was cleaned.  Hell, the mattress looks new.  Part of him wants to think that this is ridiculous and unfair, and to realize that normal people don’t have rich ex-whatevers who _still_ throw money at their problems.

 

Reid has no idea what to do right now, except to get his apartment ready.  It feels wrong, to be honest.  Staying here, jobless, in an apartment owned by someone he was falling in love with and probably still is, and just… what?  Trying to make up with the only friend he’s had in the past five years, and reconcile with his boss even though he doesn’t expect his life back.  Especially considering that the two people he wanted to make up with the most were blaming him for the death of someone important to them.  Was that even something you could fix?

 

Well, if it was possible, Reid would do it.  Especially considering his wide open schedule, and the help he wasn’t even trying to get, from someone who should be a lot angrier at him.

 

Someone knocks on his door.  Speak of the devil.

 

It’s not Luke.  It’s Katie.

 

“I, um, thought you were Luke,” Reid says, in lieu of an actual greeting.

 

“Oh, are you still dating?  Never mind, it’s none of my business,” she says, talking over Reid’s attempt at a negative response.  “Can I come in?” She does anyway, and Reid closes the door behind her.

 

“Do you want,” Reid starts to ask.  “Never mind.  I can’t offer you anything.  I moved in two minutes ago.  How do you even know I’m here?”

 

“Please,” Katie says dismissively, which answers exactly nothing.  She sits down on the couch and looks at Reid like she expects him to join her.  Then again, he immediately does, so her expectations are proven pretty quickly correct.  Reid feels weak.  The old him probably would have refused to sit on principle.

 

“Are you .  .  .  doing all right?” Reid asks awkwardly.

 

“No,” Katie says.  “But I was hoping you could help me with that.”

 

“Sure, anything you need,” Reid hears himself say, like he’s not currently in an apartment that he had to rent from a man he is very into and decidedly not dating, because of the woman in front of him.

 

“I want to understand why you did what you did,” Katie says, “But I’m still really, really upset with you, and I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive you.”

 

“That’s… fair,” Reid says, and he even believes it.

 

“I just want you to explain why you kept his secret,” Katie blurts out, like she was barely keeping it back until then.

 

Reid takes a deep breath, but he wants to get through this.  It’s literally why he’s still here.

 

“He asked me to,” Reid says, but he knows that explains nothing.  “I was trying to be a good friend, or a good person, or something.  For Luke.”

 

“Oh, so you let my boyfriend _die_ to impress yours,” she accuses.

 

“No, of course not.” Reid pauses to gather his thoughts.

 

“I never really believed that,” Katie claims unconvincingly.

 

“I can see how you might have, though,” Reid says generously.  “Look, I was in a situation where I already would not have known what the best course of action was.  Well that’s not entirely it.  I was in a situation where I would have previously minded my own business.  Luke’s influence wasn’t me keeping the secret; he was all for telling everyone when he found it.  Any changes in my personality that may or may not have been due to my previous romantic relationship only made me get involved and probably helped make sure Chris was getting treatment at all.  Who knows what he would have done if he couldn’t get the medication at all.”

 

“So you and Luke _are_ broken up,” is what Katie focuses on.

 

“God, _yes,_ thanks for reminding me,” Reid snaps.

 

“Sorry.  About the reminding, and the breakup.  Really.”

 

“Well, it was my fault anyway,” Reid admits.

 

“I can’t find that surprising,” Katie says.  It should hurt more than it does, but Reid just agrees.

 

“But about Chris,” Reid starts again.

 

“Nope.  No,” Katie says.  “We’re done for today.  I’m going to go home and think.  Please, just let me come to you next time too.”

 

“Whatever you need,” Reid answers, and it feels foreign on his tongue.  Katie’s out the door before he has a chance to walk her to it, his hands on either side of himself in an aborted gesture to push himself up off the couch.  He drops back down and leans back, remembering the stuff in his car that he just doesn’t want to go get right now.

 

As soon as he stands up to finally do it, though, there’s another knock on his door.

  
“Back so soon, Katie?” he asks, but this time it’s Luke.  He should have figured.

 

“I am having a lousy day at knowing who’s at the door,” he says, stepping aside to let Luke in without letting him speak.

 

Luke comes in and laughs.  “So, Katie was here?”

 

“Yeah, but don’t get your hopes up; she wasn’t here to tell me all is forgiven and I can go home without regrets.”

 

Luke gives him one of his special _are you kidding me_ looks, so much better than everyone else’s, somehow.  “I think we both know that’s not what I want.”

 

“Why do you keep acting like you want me around?” Reid asks, and it’s a question that’s been bouncing around in his head all day.  He must be pretty tired if it’s slipping out this easily.

 

“I guess I’m not just capable of not caring about someone just because we’re not romantically involved anymore.  I’ve never been able to do that.  I guess most people would say I’m probably too emotional.”

 

“In terms of emotions, though, I think that’s more logical than people who stop caring,” Reid confesses, and it does feel like he’s sharing a secret, somehow.

 

“That strangely means a lot coming from you,” Luke says.  Reid laughs.

 

“Don’t worry; I know what you mean.”

 

“You usually do,” Luke says quietly, which kind of makes Reid’s palms sweat, for reasons he can’t fully explain.

 

“You’re honest,” Reid says.  “That helps a lot.”

 

“I’m not trying to get back together with you,” Luke says, maintaining the aforementioned honesty, “So don’t worry about that.  I’m really just trying to make sure you don’t leave before you feel ready.  And yes, I admit that I think you’d be happier if you could sort this out and stick around.”

 

“And that wouldn’t bother you?” Reid asked hesitantly.

 

“I might have to take back my earlier comment about knowing what I mean,” Luke says.

 

“I thought Noah,” Reid forces the name out, “Might be a special case with you.  Wanting to spend time with him even now because he was your first love, or someone you were still in love with.”

 

“You think I was still in love with Noah when I was talking to him that day at Java,” Luke realizes aloud.

 

“I’m saying you still are.  What are you saying?” Reid whispers unintentionally.

 

“He isn’t the man I was in love with back then, or now,” Luke answers, “But that’s not what I’m here to talk about, is it?”

 

Does Reid get a choice in this?  He feels like he doesn’t.

 

“All right,” Reid hedges, “Why are you here?”

 

“To move you in, mostly,” Luke replies enigmatically.

 

“Mostly?” Reid asks, but Luke is already at the door like he’s actually going to go out to Reid’s car and help him bring stuff in.

 

“Wait, you’re capable of physical labor?” Reid jokes immediately.

 

“Sometimes I forget how little you know about me, considering how well you know me.”

 

“That should be a statement that doesn’t make sense,” Reid points out, sort of imagining Luke performing feats of physical labor.

 

“But it isn’t,” Luke decides.

 

“Fair enough,” Reid submits, following Luke out his door.

 

It turns out that Luke was right and Reid _had_ been underestimating his strength, which is fundamentally unfair.  He basically carries twice as much as Reid for the three trips it takes them.  “Aren’t you a transplant recipient?” he wants to ask, but he doesn’t.

 

“Why are you so good at moving?” is what he asks instead.  “Haven’t you lived in the same place your whole life?  And haven’t you always had the capability to, you know, hire people?”

 

“Do you wish I’d hired movers?” Luke asks, ignoring the point.

 

“Of course not.  I was going to get around to this eventually.  But I appreciate the help,” he adds quickly.

 

Luke smiles at that, and surprises Reid by addressing his real question.  “I’ve lived in Oakdale my whole life, but I’ve moved between the Snyder farm, my mom’s house, and my grandmother’s house kind of often.”

 

“I’m reasonably certain there’s no point asking you why,” Reid guesses.

 

“A lot of weird reasons.  You’ve been here long enough to imagine, I think.”

 

“Too long, some might say,” Reid mutters.

 

“I wouldn’t,” Luke says.  “Would you?”

 

“Apparently not, since I was easily swayed into staying,” Reid says. 

 

“Speaking of which, how did it go with Katie?” Luke asks.  It takes Reid slightly longer than probably expected to understand the connection between Katie and him remaining in Oakdale, which might be a problem.

 

“Right, yeah,” he starts.  “She said she wants to understand this from my point of view.”

 

“That’s good, then, isn’t it?” Luke asks.

 

“It is.  She said she can’t forgive me now, though, but I’m going to wait and let her grieve at her own pace.  It seems like the nice person thing to do.”

 

“True,” Luke says, “But don’t sacrifice your principles or happiness for this.”

 

“That doesn’t sound like your usual advice.  I’ve been sacrificing my principles on your recommendation pretty regularly,” Reid points out.

 

“I kind of regret that now,” Luke admits.  “I shouldn’t have been trying to change who you are, just helping you to get what you want.”

 

“I think that’s what you were doing, deep down,” Reid says.

 

“That’s seemingly uncharacteristically nice of you,” Luke argues.

 

“You didn’t change that part of me, though.  You just helped me reconcile it with the rest of my personality.”

 

“OK, you are being much too nice to me.”

 

“Luke, I hate to break it to you, but you’re helping me to get my life back together so I can choose if I stay in this tiny town and see you all the time or leave satisfied and never see you again.  After everything we’ve been through.  You don’t get to call _me_ too nice.”

 

“I would do this for any of my, um, friends,” Luke says awkwardly.

 

“Friends,” Reid laughs.  “Thank you, though.”

 

“Anytime,” Luke says, and probably means it.  It occurs to Reid to wonder if he could go take a job at the Mayo Clinic and still call Luke sometimes and ask for unreasonable favors.  Probably.

 

“Well, I should be going,” Luke says.  “I have somewhere ‘rich and fancy’ to be.”

 

“Do you really?” Reid asks, amused.

 

“I actually do this time.  But call me if there are any problems with the place, or just in general.  I’ll see you soon,” he promises, and Reid holds onto that.

 

“Bye,” he says awkwardly, not wanting him to leave at all and a little bit upset at himself because of it.

 

Reid feels a weird sort of energy that may be discomfort or self-pity once Luke’s gone, and gets everything unpacked.  He spends most of the time putting things away contemplating whether or not there’s really a point to settling in to such an extent if he might be leaving as soon as he feels ready.  Especially with such vague reasons to stay, reasons he apparently doesn’t even remember under pressure.

 

There’s a fifty percent chance this is because he’s lying about his reasons.

 

Well, at least fifty.

 

Reid quickly decides that he does not care at all that it’s only ten at night, and he has nowhere to be in the morning.  His day has been exhausting in every way, so he goes to bed.

 

\---

 

Reid wakes up and realizes that he has no idea what to do.  He’s come back to the point he was at where he panicked about not having a job, because he’s never spent much time at all not working or not going to school.  A week, for example, would be sheer insanity.  Last time, of course, he got the opportunity to immediately fight to get reinstated, due to a lot of help, monetarily and emotional-support-wise, embarrassingly enough, from a Mr.  Luke Snyder, but there is even less of a clear path this time.  Is he trying to get his job back?  Just to mend his relationships so he can leave?  Either way, it sounds like way too much time without really doing anything.

 

He paces around his apartment, and realizes he has literally no food.  And of course, no matter where he goes, he’ll run into someone.  He thinks of every possible place to eat breakfast, and who is the most likely to be at each place, and who he’s trying the hardest to avoid, and comes up with incredibly depressing results.  Reid almost wishes he were back at the Lakeview so that he could just get a room service breakfast and eat it by himself.

 

All at once, he decides he’s not the type of person to avoid anybody, and starts putting on his shoes and jacket in preparation of going to . . . Al’s, probably.  Hank will just have to deal.

 

Of course, as soon as he has solidified this decision, his phone lights up on the counter with a call from Luke.  Who calls people at nine in the morning?

 

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?” is how Luke chooses to respond to Reid’s probably less than polite greeting.

 

“Of course not,” Reid defends himself, “What do you think I am, a teenager?”

 

“Yes, of course, I was calling you my sister.  Oh, no, that’s not right.  I wish I could take that back.  There are zero good implications of that statement.”

 

Reid laughs despite himself.  “What has you calling me at a time that some people might consider early?” he says, deciding to rescue Luke from the weird mood he has created.

 

“I wanted to see if you wanted to get breakfast at Al’s or something,” Luke answers.  “I figure you didn’t have a chance to go grocery shopping, and you might not want to go see people without a buffer.  Not that I think you can’t handle it on your own.”

 

“I get it,” Reid interrupts. “That sounds great, thanks.  Soon?”

 

“Yeah, as soon as you can get ready.  I’ll save a table and wait until you get there to order,” Luke offers.

 

“You don’t have to,” Reid tries, but Luke has already hung up.  Reid feels slightly tempted to take his time, but he’s really hungry so he just walks out the door and locks it behind him.

 

He arrives what feels like weirdly quickly, but Luke is already there, tapping his foot and looking around while trying to appear casual.  Great, the less awkward member of their party already was feeling awkward.  He pushes open the door and walks in, hoping to break the tension with force alone, and sits down across from Luke at the corner booth.

 

“Hi,” Luke says.  He smiles at Reid like he’s honestly still glad to see him, and every time that he does that to Reid it feels like the weirdest thing to ever happen to him.  Nobody smiles at him like that, especially not people who, he has now realized he has to admit, he has dumped.  It’s incredibly confusing.

 

“Hi,” Reid says.  “Did you order?”

 

“Of course not.  I’m a gentleman,” Luke teases.  “Also, you got here really fast.”

 

“I was about to walk out the door when you called,” he admits.

 

“I guess I called just in time?” Luke suggests.

 

“Well I was going to come here anyway, so if you were too, the same effect might have been achieved.”

 

“Nah, if you’d said no I probably would have gone to the farm for breakfast,” Luke answers.

 

“Something about the way you say that makes it sound delicious,” Reid says, and then realizes how weird that sounds.  Luke doesn’t seem to notice.

 

“It is,” he agrees.  “We could have gone there, but I didn’t want you to feel awkward.”

 

“Oh, um.  That brings up something I meant to ask you at the Lakeview,” he says, further digging himself into a pit of awkwardness.

 

“What did I tell my family?” Luke asks, apparently reading his mind as usual.  When he nods, Luke continues.  “I did tell them we broke up, but I didn’t get into it.  They didn’t ask anyway; they have their own stuff going on.”

 

“That was nice of you.”

 

“To respect their personal issues and not dump mine on them?”

 

“Not to tell them what a jerk I was,” Reid corrects.

 

“You weren’t a jerk,” Luke argues, but Reid starts shaking his head immediately.

 

“I was, and let me apologize.  I shouldn’t have assumed that you were getting back with Noah behind my back.  I should have known that wasn’t like you; I should have trusted you. And I’m sorry I didn’t.”

 

“Well, thank you.  It’s nice to hear, anyway.”

 

“You might be able to understand where I was coming from, though.  Since Noah was your first and only love, and all that.”

 

“Maybe,” Luke says, “But I’ve been in love twice, now.”

 

“Shouldn’t that be something that your boyfriend knows?”

 

“I don’t have a boyfriend, as you _know_ , but Noah already knows I fell out of love with him and in love with someone else.  I told him once, outside of Java.  Actually, it appears that he’s the only one who knows.”

 

“What are you trying to say?” Reid says, unintentionally quietly.  He feels like he can’t get his voice to come out right.

 

Of course, _of course,_ that’s when Hank stops by to take their order, and to ask if Reid’s “still hanging around.”  Something about Luke being there makes him treat Hank much more nicely, and to barely even tease him or suggest negative things about his intelligence at all.  And Luke seems to not mind so much, like he knows Reid is, at this point, defending himself.  He orders a weird amount of food that incites more comments, and Luke gets something that sounds about as sensible as you can get at a diner, and Hank finally gets out of their space.

 

“I guess this is a bad place to talk about certain people,” Luke points out.  It takes Reid a few seconds to realize that means Katie, because he’s still desperate to return to their previous conversation because _it can’t be._

“Yep,” Reid says unhelpfully.

 

Luke’s answering smirk seems to say, is that really all you have to say?  Yes, he wants to answer.  That’s all I’ve got.

 

There’s an awkwardness that lasts until their food arrives, in which Luke asks how the apartment is and Reid says it’s good and thanks him again, and it seems like maybe Henry overhears, but he probably knew anyway.

 

At the end of the meal Luke looks at Henry almost threateningly until he walks over and Luke hands him his card without even touching the bill.  Reid tries to protest, of course, but Luke maintains that since he invited Reid, he has to pay.  He can’t prove it, but he’s pretty sure that Luke would have a reason to pay in pretty much any situation, including his own birthday.

 

“Are you going to let me tip?” Reid asks, knowing the answer.

 

“Please don’t!” Henry calls from behind the counter.

 

“I’m a great tipper,” Reid says, unsure if he wants Hank to hear or not.  If he does hear, he doesn’t answer.  It doesn’t matter anyway, when Luke drops money (which he apparently already had counted out) onto the table as they’re leaving.

 

They stop awkwardly outside the restaurant, and Reid feels a strong urge to lean against the wall in some sort of attempt at forced casualness.  He resists it.

 

“Where are you off to next?” Luke asks him.  Reid’s uncertainty is probably displayed clearly on his face, because Luke laughs softly.

 

“I don’t know how to not work,” Reid reminds Luke.  “So I’m tempted to just bother Bob Hughes until he gives me my job back, even though I’m not sure if I want that or not.  But how do I ask for that?  ‘Sorry that I treated a patient unofficially, oh and that he was your son, oh and that he died?’ There’s just no good way to go about this.”

 

“Do you want me to try to help?” Luke asks.

 

Reid sighs.  “Yes,” he concedes, “Do you think you can?”

 

Luke gives him a look.  “It’s like you don’t know me at all.  Go grocery shopping.  I’ll call you later.”

 

“Fine,” Reid says, “but I won’t like it.”

 

\---

 

True to his promise, he does not enjoy grocery shopping.  Halfway through, he realizes he’s literally only there because Luke told him to go, which is inherently ridiculous.  He can definitely make his own decisions.  He almost puts his food back, but that sounds complicated, and some of the sandwich ingredients he picked out look really good.  So he finishes up and gets ready to go back to his apartment.  Miraculously, he finds himself there putting everything away without having run into anyone else.

 

Then he realizes he has no idea what to do.  Waiting around until Luke calls seems silly, so he walks out of his apartment, almost hoping to run into someone who has a bone to pick with him.

 

Of course, the only such person he sees is Katie.  He was hoping to give her more time.

 

“Hi, Katie,” he says when she catches his eye.  He’s hoping that’s the appropriate strategy for avoiding awkwardness, but she sits down on a bench and implores him to join her.

 

“Here’s an interesting issue we haven’t addressed yet,” she says without any lead-in.  “Why did my boyfriend kiss _you_ before he _died?_ ”

 

Reid winces.  He did not want to talk about that, especially with this kind of emphasis on the important words.

 

“That’s an interesting story, actually,” he starts, which doesn’t seem to impress Katie even a little bit.

 

“It was halfway between an old joke and a thank you?” he tries.  Katie just looks at him.

 

“OK, it’s from our med school days.  You know Chris, as soon as he found out I was gay, he decided that I was obviously into him, and he took that joke way too far and didn’t stop saying it at every opportunity. Even in front of our professors,” he adds.

 

“Were you?” Katie presses.

 

“What?”

 

“Were you into him?”

 

“No! I mean, only for a day or two, before I really got to know him,” Reid corrects, when he realizes that he sounds like he’s lying.  Katie’s eyebrows raise.

 

“I would not have guessed that,” she says, and then waits for him to continue.

 

“Well our occasional interactions were full of ‘I know you want it’ comments, of course, so when I came to see him, he said he was going to thank me for helping him and keeping his secret by giving me what I really wanted.  Honestly, I didn’t think _that_ could be what he meant.  Otherwise I might have stopped it.”

 

“Might have?”

 

“Well I don’t know for sure, do I?” Reid snaps accidentally. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

 

“But you did,” Katie argues, which is true enough.  She leaves after that, slow and casual enough that it might seem like it isn’t because Reid made a slight error in conversation, but he is pretty sure that is what caused her departure.

 

He sits on the bench for a few minutes after that, partly in case she comes back, and mostly because he has no place to go anyway.  When he gets bored enough, he pulls out his phone and stares at Luke’s contact information for a while.

 

“You could just call me,” he hears from behind him, and jumps almost imperceptibly.

 

“Trying to give me a heart attack?” he asks Luke, forcing his voice steady.

 

Luke comes around to the front of the bench and sits down next to him.  The thought enters Reid’s mind to feel embarrassed about being caught staring at Luke’s number in his phone, but for some reason the feeling doesn’t come with it.

 

“How’s it going?” Luke asks casually.

 

“Oh, great,” Reid answers.  “I ran into Katie again, and apparently cannot say the right thing to save my life.  I don’t know why she’s mad anyway.  Chris kissed me, not the other way around.”

 

Luke chokes on his own spit at that one, and Reid tries not to be amused as soon as he assures himself Luke’s fine.  “You’re serious!” Luke accuses.

 

“I am,” Reid replies.  “It was mostly a joke.”

 

Luke nods like he understands kissing as a joke.  Maybe he does; he’s pretty young.  Reid doesn’t want to think about that, even though they aren’t together anymore.

 

“Did he kiss Katie after that?” Luke asks.

 

“Why, you think she’s mad that she got my germs or something?”

 

“No, I’m wondering if maybe he _didn’t_ kiss her,” Luke says patiently.  “What if you’re the last person he kissed?”

 

That hits Reid surprisingly hard.  It shouldn’t be a big deal, is the thing.  So what?  He’s not the one Chris was in love with.  Why does it matter?  But he can feel it, the pain that might be there to not have everything be right in someone’s final moments with the person they care about the most.  It makes more sense to him than it ever did before.  He puts his hand to his head and groans.

 

“You have got to be kidding me,” he says.

 

“You think I’m right?” Luke asks.

 

“As usual,” Reid answers him.  “I don’t even know how to begin to rectify this.”

 

“I’d suggest time,” Luke says, “But I don’t know that being away from you will help her deal with this.  I think it has to be confronted, instead of just waiting for it to go away.”

 

“Well, you know I prefer it that way.”

 

“Truer words,” Luke says, getting up and patting Reid on the shoulder twice, before he stands back up.  “I’ll see you around.”

 

Reid gets up and leaves the second Luke is out of sight, suddenly ready to make good use of his new food.

 

\---

 

He makes and eats three different sandwiches, thinking about how Katie would call him disgusting and Luke (if they were still together) would have probably been trying to steal bites, and Reid would be completely letting him.  It’s not even a question.  He’d probably make one for Luke and eat half of it anyway, and he would feel extremely glad that nobody was around to see him act like that.  The worst is knowing that he could have really had that, and it was his fault, his overreaction, his immaturity, that prevented it.

 

There’s a knock at Reid’s door.  Maybe he’s about to find out how Luke responds to his gross eating habits when they two of them are no longer a thing.

 

No such luck.

 

“I wasn’t done talking to you,” Katie says, walking inside and sitting at Reid’s place at the table, by his last half-eaten sandwich.

 

“Hi,” he says, “Come in, why don’t you.”

 

Katie pushes aside Reid’s food like she didn’t just sit directly in front of it.  “I’m really trying,” she says quietly.

 

Reid sits down across from her.  “I never doubted that.”

 

“It’s hard, and I don’t know what I’m doing, and I wish you could tell me, but I don’t think I’d listen.  And I still can’t look at you,” she says, and she tries to bring her eyes up and looks back down, as if to prove it.

 

“I wouldn’t be able to tell you anyway; you know I’m no good at this,” Reid says.

 

“You _are,_ though.  Without trying to be.”

 

Reid feels a little hope at that, and is about to say something when his phone rings.

 

“I bet I know who that is,” Katie says.

 

“Probably,” Reid agrees.  “I only have the one friend.” He looks at the display. “Hm.  Bob Hughes,” he greets when he answers the phone.  “I can honestly say I was not expecting your call.”

 

“So you didn’t send Luke Snyder over here to plead your case?” Bob asks, a slight bit of humor making its way into the question.

 

“Well, not officially,” he replies, somewhat relaxed at Bob’s casual tone.

 

“I was hoping we could talk in person,” Bob says, either ignoring the comment or just taking it in stride.

 

“Yeah, sure, when?” Reid asks, distractedly looking at Katie out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Now would be best,” Bob says.  “Can you meet me in my office?”

 

“Sure,” Reid says, feeling like he has no choice anyway.  “I’ll be there soon.”

 

“Bob Hughes?” Katie asks.  “Interesting.”

 

“Yeah, it is.  I have to head out, but you’re welcome to stay if you want,” Reid says, throwing on a jacket and leaving before he hears Katie answer.  It might be rude, leaving her there with the decision of how to lock up, but he thinks she’ll deal.

 

It occurs to Reid to be nervous, but apparently his feelings have stopped actually happening, and started just being passing thoughts.  It’s a little bit strange.  He’s not dwelling on it.

 

He gets to the hospital faster than he plans to, which just seems to be a new part of his personality these days.

 

He walks into Bob’s office without hesitating, pausing, or knocking.  It might not be the best way to make a good impression, but it’s who he is, and he isn’t going to change that.  Well, he’s not going to change it much.

 

“Hello, Dr. Hughes,” he says, feeling, for some reason, optimistic.

 

“Good afternoon, Dr. Oliver,” Bob replies, seeming cautious.

 

“It’s good to see you again,” Reid prompts.

 

“And you,” Bob says.  “I had a very interesting conversation with Luke Snyder this morning,” he starts.  “I had no idea you were still together.”

 

“We’re not,” Reid says, surprised.

 

“What?  You’re trying to tell me that Luke came in here spouting veiled threats at one of his friends on your behalf and you aren’t involved with him?” Bob asks, incredulous.

 

“Wait a minute?  Luke threatened you?”

 

“Well, not directly,” Bob answers.  “I just saw a little bit of the Grimaldi I always knew was there.”

 

“Oh, yeah, I’ve been on both sides of that,” Reid reminisces.  “I actually think I’ve never seen him lose.”

 

“You’re lucky,” Bob says.

 

“I _was_ lucky.  And then I was stupid,” Reid corrects.

 

“You ended it?”

 

“I did.  I thought he was still in love with Noah.”

 

“The Noah Mayer who asked him to come with him to LA but is now there alone?”

 

“Yes, thank you for reminding me.  How did you even hear about that?  It’s outside your generation.”

 

“Believe it or not, I do talk to my family members on occasion,” Bob says good-naturedly.  “Now, about your job.”

 

“Look, contrary to what Luke might have led you to believe, there’s no need to give me my job back.  I violated the rules, and probably the law, and your trust.”

 

“Maybe,” Bob agrees.  “But you didn’t break my son’s.”

                                                                                                               

“Thank you for saying that,” Reid says, meaning it.  “I don’t see why that would be a good reason to give me a job, though.”

 

“It’s not,” Bob says, “But it does make the reason I fired you seem a little less important.”

 

“So you’re trying to un-fire me?” Reid asks, and then pauses to realize how unprofessional that sounds, in what is sort of a negotiation.

 

“Exactly,” Bob says, like he didn’t notice.

 

“Whatever Luke said he might or might not do must have been pretty bad,” Reid attempts to pry.

 

“Yes,” Bob says, “But that’s not why I’m doing this.  He made me realize I probably fired you unfairly, for personal reasons.”

 

“That sounds more like the Luke I,” Reid starts.  “The Luke I got to know.”

 

Bob smiles like he’s seeing right through him.  “Me, too.”

 

“Thank you.  For giving me my job back, of course.  If there’s anything I can do for you,” he starts, and Bob immediately interrupts.

 

“You could go visit the Luke Snyder you and I both know, who is probably still waiting in the room next door.”

 

“This shouldn’t surprise me, should it?”  Reid asked.  Bob just clapped him on the shoulder and pushed him out the door.

 

“I’ll need you back here at 7:00 on Monday,” he says as he closes the door.  That figures.

 

\---

 

The ability to be nervous hits Reid all at once when he goes to walk into the room next door.  Mainly, he’s wondering how to even begin to thank Luke for something like this.  It isn’t made any less threatening when he considers the fact that Luke doesn’t want or expect to be thanked.

 

He stops with his hand on the door for thirty seconds, breathes in, and pushes it open.  Luke is sitting there, resting his head on one of his hands and scrolling through his phone, looking distracted.  He jumps up at the sound of the door closing, though, and takes a half step toward Reid, then stops.

 

“Did you talk to Bob?” he asks.  At Reid’s nod, he continues with, “And?  What happened?”

 

“What do you think happened, after you talked to him?” Reid jokes.

 

“Oh crap, did he yell at you?” Luke asks, suddenly panicked.

 

“What?  No.  Jesus, what did you say to him that makes you think he’d yell?  He gave me my job back.”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Luke says, which makes Reid immediately worry about it.  “Congratulations!  Did you take it?”

 

“I’m still worrying about it,” he says.  Luke gives him a look.  “Of course I took it.”

 

“I’m glad you did,” Luke says.  “I really didn’t know if you would.”

 

“It’s a great job.  A neurosurgery wing designed to my specifications with me at the head?  I’d be crazy not to accept it.”

 

“I thought you really would want to move away,” Luke admits.  “And to be honest I could see why you would.”

 

“I hope you’ll get over that line of thinking quickly, but until then, thanks.”

 

“Of course,” Luke brushes it off like it was nothing.

 

“I mean it.  Look, this is one of those weird situations where I understand something logically but I still can’t internalize it.  You say you’re doing this for me because you don’t stop caring about someone just because you’re not with them.  That’s great.  It makes sense.  But I am somehow still shocked every time.”

 

“Well, what if I needed your help with something?” Luke suggests.

 

“Wait, do you?  That makes sense.  What do you need?” Reid asks, immediately leaning toward the door as if ready to help at any given moment.

 

“Reid, that was a hypothetical situation.  I don’t actually need your help; that’s not why I’m doing this.  But you proved my point pretty excellently.”

 

“That’s different,” Reid explains.

 

“Why?”

 

Because I’m in love with you, Reid doesn’t say.  Damn it, that does still prove Luke’s point, doesn’t it.

 

“Never mind,” he says, exasperated.  “Thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Luke answers, grinning.

 

“I can’t believe you threatened Bob Hughes for me.”

 

“You know me, spoiled little rich kid, throwing around his money and power,” Luke answers self-deprecatingly.

 

“Why _do_ you have so much money?  You know what, that’s not the point.  It doesn’t matter.  You’re a thousand times more than that, anyway.  You know it wasn’t even your money that convinced Bob anyway; he said you just made him realize he was wrong.”

 

“Really?” Luke asks, seeming honestly doubtful.

 

“Would I lie to you?”

 

“I don’t know, maybe.  But I don’t think you have.”

 

Reid is really glad to hear that; it’s not often that someone recognizes and appreciates legitimate good qualities about him beyond his surgery expertise.  It’s something with which he’s usually completely fine, but the change is nice as well.

 

He and Luke have gotten a lot closer as they’ve been talking, and Reid realizes it very suddenly.  Once this is something he’s aware of, there’s no stopping the impulse.  He leans in quickly and his lips meet Luke’s in a gentle kiss, touching him nowhere except there, and for a few noteworthy seconds Luke kisses him back.

 

Then he pushes Reid back, gently but unyieldingly, until he stands a few feet away.  “We can’t do this,” Luke says.

 

“Usually you’re smarter about things like this, but I’m not inclined to believe you now,” Reid says, trying to calm his nerves.  He can’t believe how much a short kiss and its aftermath has affected his sympathetic nervous system.

 

Luke gives him a half-smile which doesn’t help at all.  “I’m glad that you got your job back, again, but you don’t have to kiss me every time you want to just thank me.  Don’t try to do me any favors, that’s not why I was doing this.”

 

Favors?  Reid wants to believe that Luke wants this, he does, but he can’t.

 

Then realization slaps Reid in the face.  He had surprise-kissed Luke months ago when Luke . . . had helped him get his job back.  And he’s doing the exact same thing without intending it.

 

“I was not ‘just thanking’ you then and I am not doing it now.  You knew what it meant last time, you believed it, and I promise you it means the same this time.  More, even, because,” Reid breaks off there.

 

“Because you know it’s only for you this time?” Luke suggests, but it feels like an accusation.  The awkward reference to Noah hangs between them but Reid doesn’t comment on it or get upset.  He feels like he deserves at least a little of the blame, because he was just as responsible as Luke for using Noah as a barrier to their relationship instead of addressing the real problems.  Maybe even more now.

 

“No,” Reid says, stepping closer again.  Luke stands a little straighter but doesn’t back up.  “No,” Reid repeats, “But I do appreciate that.”  He puts his hand on the side of Luke’s face to direct his gaze at the sincerity in his eyes, and Luke bites his lip.

 

Reid backs off then, and prepares to leave.  But he hesitates when he reaches the door, not wanting to leave even if there’s no reason to stay.

 

“Hey,” Luke says softly, like he’s feeling the same thing.  “How’s it going with Katie?”

 

“Actually she might still be in my apartment,” Reid remembers.

 

“You left her alone in your apartment?” Luke asks.

 

“She’s a grieving woman, not a burglar,” Reid says, surprised.

 

“That’s not what I meant,” Luke answers, fighting a laugh.  “No, I just meant that you don’t have to be so nice that you let her walk all over you.”

 

“You’re one to talk,” Reid says, trying to convey that he doesn’t mean it negatively.

 

“Fair enough,” Luke accepts, “But I don’t think I want to see you changing yourself for other people.”

 

“I’m not,” Reid promises, “That’s still not something I would do.  These are parts of me I’ve just never had the chance to use.”

 

“You’re implying that this is your underused altruism coming out?”

 

“I’m a doctor, Luke, I’ve always had altruism,” Reid says immediately, then imagines how arrogant it must sound.  But Luke just laughs.

 

“Your compassion, then,” he amends.

 

“Maybe.  Would that be so strange?  That you make me want to be nicer to people without changing who I am?”

 

“It sounds almost too good to be true, objectively speaking,” Luke answers.

 

“You sound like a writer.”

 

“I am,” Luke answers.  “Or, I was, once.  But that’s not the point.”

 

Reid wishes that was the point.  He wants to know everything about Luke.  Before he can express this, though, Luke speaks again.

 

“I think that Katie deserves all the sympathy in the world, but I can’t let you hurt yourself to make her feel better.  I want to see both of you happy, and I don’t think that Katie is choosing methods that make either one of you feel better.”

 

“I don’t know any better way to do this,” Reid says slowly.

 

“Me either,” Luke answers, “But I think that it should be drastically different than what you’re doing now.  I don’t mean to say you can shock her out of being angry at you, of course.”

 

“But maybe I can,” Reid thinks aloud.  Luke looks utterly flummoxed.

 

Reid stops in the doorframe while he’s leaving.  “Are you coming?”

 

“If only to satisfy my curiosity,” Luke answered, shoving his phone into his pocket and grabbing his jacket.

 

“Good enough for me.”

 

\---

 

Katie is still there when Luke and Reid arrive, and apparently she’s cleaned up after Reid and potentially eaten one of his sandwiches, Reid can’t be sure.  She’s lounging across his couch and reading one of the books that she gave him when they were living together.

 

But Reid walks in determinedly, grabs the book and sets it on the coffee table, and pulls Katie up to stand, a physical feat he didn’t really expect from himself, if he’s honest.

 

“I forgot to pass this on,” he says, and kisses his best friend full on the mouth.

 

Reid hears a close noise of surprise from Katie that matches Luke’s from the doorway.  He commits to the kiss, though, giving it at least as much as Chris had when he’d kissed Reid, and Katie doesn’t push him away.  He hears Luke closing the door behind him somewhere, and wonders which side he’s on after he does it.

 

He pulls away with a soft noise, and looks Katie in the eye.  She looks back blankly for a few seconds, and then bursts out laughing.

 

“You cannot possibly think that’s what I wanted,” she says, still smiling.

 

“Hey, it wasn’t so bad,” he replies.

 

“You are actually a pretty good kisser,” Katie admits.  “I guess I’m probably not the only one in the room who thinks so?”

 

Reid turns around and looks at Luke, who is apparently still there, but he just agrees with her.  Reid illogically feels left out.

 

“So are you guys,” Katie starts, and then stops immediately as she shares a meaningful look with Luke.  “Right.”

 

Reid pretty much realizes that through one glance Katie has probably learned more about whatever Luke’s feeling throughout this whole ordeal than he does, and he irrationally wants to push Luke out the door and grill Katie for the answers.

 

Luke uses some form of emotional ESP to deduce this, apparently.  “I’m going to go do some work at Java for a bit,” he says.  Reid doesn’t know why he’s explaining himself, but he just walks him to the door.  “Come by later, if you want,” Luke says, and oh.  That’s why.

 

“You really screwed everything up, didn’t you?” Katie says, after Luke leaves.

 

“I really did,” he agrees.

 

“I guess it’s a good thing you’ve got me, then,” Katie says uncertainly.

 

Reid smiles, a little bit surprised, but manages to nod.

 

“So what’s your plan?” Katie asks.

 

“My plan?”

 

“To win Luke over after you dumped him for incredibly stupid reasons while he was ready to choose you,” Katie over-clarifies.

 

“Thanks,” Reid says sarcastically.  “There is no plan.  How could he possibly want me back?”

 

“That’s an excellent question,” Katie teases.  “Especially if you look at it too logically.  Think with your heart for once,” she says, her voice breaking.  “Don’t you care about him despite everything?  Can’t he feel the same about you?”

 

“Christ, I hope so,” Reid says, too honest.  He starts to regret it, but Katie just steps a little closer.

 

“He does.  I’m right about this,” Katie insists.  “Don’t blow it again.  There’s a limit on chances.”

 

“Your reassurances are oddly pessimistic.”

 

Katie sighs exasperatedly.  “I’m leaving,” she announces.  “I hope you are too.”

 

She follows through on her promise immediately, and Reid looks around his apartment and feels the absence of his two closest friends, suddenly.  He used to feel the most relaxed when he was alone, and maybe he still would, but right now that’s not the case at all.

 

Everything about staying home sounds easier; Reid has had an exceptionally long day.  But the pull to Luke is stronger, and it overtakes him without him even realizing it, and he’s halfway out the door.

 

\---

 

It’s crowded when he gets to Java, but he sees Luke in a table at the corner and walks over to him single-mindedly.

 

“Hi,” Luke says, surprised.  “I didn’t even hear you come in.”

 

“I love you,” Reid says firmly, and probably too loudly.

 

Luke drops the pen he’s holding, and doesn’t notice the man at the neighboring table trying to give it back to him.

 

“You’re just saying that,” Luke argues, but Reid is already shaking his head.  “You figured out I’m still in love with you and you’re trying to thank me, or get everything back to the way it was.  There’s no way.”

 

“I can’t believe you’d really think that about me,” Reid says, “So I’m guessing that you don’t.  You think that about you.”

 

“I’ll still be on your side if we’re just friends, Reid,” Luke says calmly.

 

“Yes,” Reid agrees, “Obviously.  I know that.  It’s not about that.  Don’t think that’s what this is about.  I _love_ you and I want to be with you and I am sorry that I ruined it before but please don’t say no if there’s even a chance that this will work.  You said you’re still in love with me, and I can’t fathom why you ever were, much less why you still are now.  But if it’s true then don’t give up on us.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Luke says, and Reid thinks it means he’s going to say no, but he goes on.  “I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you earlier,” he clarifies.  “It’s a lot easier to want the things that I have than it is to want, well, me.”

 

“I pity anyone who believes that,” Reid says.

 

“I’m sorry,” Luke repeats.

 

“Don’t be sorry.”

 

Luke looks at him, hesitant all of a sudden.  “I don’t know what else to do,” he says.

 

Reid knows the answer to that one.  “Kiss me.”

 

Luke looks around.  The café is entirely full.  Every spot is taken and there’s a line out the door.  The people at the tables nearest them are either openly gawking or subtly glancing up every few moments.  He looks uncertain, as if he’s going to ask for if Reid’s sure, but he just stands up, pulls Reid to him with an arm around his waist, and follows his advice.

 

It’s the best kiss of Reid’s life.  There is no doubt that the entire roomful of people is staring at them, and Reid can’t remember caring less about PDA at any moment in his life.  Truthfully he’s not sure it’s possible to care less about everything else in the world than he does in this moment.  When he finally and regrettably has to pull back for air, Luke keeps him from pulling back too far.

 

“Say it again,” Luke whispers.

 

“You’re going to be insufferable, aren’t you?” Reid asks, not minding at all.

 

“Well, aren’t you?” Luke fires back.  Reid laughs.

 

“That’s fair,” he acquiesces.  “I love you.”

 

Luke kisses him again, in a way definitely not appropriate for public viewing.

 

“It might be smart to take this elsewhere,” Luke points out.

 

Reid catches his breath before speaking, and allows Luke to put his arm through Reid’s.  “Where to, Mr. Snyder?”

 

“Let’s go home, Dr. Oliver.”

 

Somehow, it doesn’t matter that Luke has three homes and Reid only has an apartment that monetarily speaking is probably more Luke’s than his anyway.  They’re already home.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been four and a half years and I'm not over them. Comment however you want; I mean that. But if you want to know what I _want_ , it's constructive criticism, always.


End file.
